Celebrating Food Freedom with Lauren Tronolone RDN and Founder of EATS Nutrition

Her Story

Lauren Tronolone is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) from the Western New York area who helps her clients celebrate their food choices! Lauren's philosophy as an RDN is all about "being in control of your food choices and knowing that all foods can be a part of a healthy lifestyle." Lauren's goal with all of her clients is to help them create a healthy relationship with food and to learn how to properly take care of their bodies without feeling like they are sacrificing the foods they enjoy and love. "Every food fits in a healthy lifestyle in my book," Lauren proclaimed.

Lauren's passion for food and helping others began as early as preschool where she would help her friends with food allergies identify both delicious and safe foods for them to eat. Helping those with food allergies continues to be a major part of what Lauren does as a RDN. She stated, "I want to help people with allergies understand what the food allergy/intolerance/sensitivity means to them and their own body. I want to help them feel in control of that food allergy, so when they are around food they know what to include or avoid!" Lauren's main goal with all of her clients is to help them celebrate their food, not fear it!

This passion grew into her business while she was an undergraduate student in college. She began her business by posting food photos on Instagram with the goal of showing people that dietitians eat WAY more than just salads. Lauren went on to explain, "I started posting on my Instagram “matcha nutrition” as a pun of “much nutrition". Lauren continued, "I would post my meals, fun new foods I would try, and my workouts because my love for the gym started in college!". After graduating college and passing her RDN exam she decided to open up her own business called EATS Nutrition, which stands for “everything and then some nutrition”. She did this to showcase that a healthy lifestyle does not just include nutrition, but truly embodies everything from stress, sleep, self care and movement!

Addressing Diet Culture Dilemmas

What is diet culture and why is it a dilemma? Diet culture is a collective of social expectations that inadvertently places value on individuals. For example, diet culture labels food as good or bad. It also alludes to the notion that to live a happy and healthy life one must obtain a certain level of thinness. These are the kinds of lies diet culture perpetuates. When an individual accepts diet culture's toxic messages, it can lead to harmful disordered eating patterns and poor body image, both of which can negatively impact an individual's mental health and physical health. Many health and wellness practitioners are now speaking out against the negative impact diet culture has on our society- Lauren Tronolone being one of them!

Lauren began our discussion about diet culture by stating, " IT’S [diet culture] the enemy!". Just to prove how ingrained diet culture is in our society, one simple google search produces 4,780,000,000 results for weight loss and another 2,450,000,000 results for diet. In 2019, the weight loss, weight management and dieting industry was valued at a total of $192.2 billion USD, and it is projected to increase to $295.3 billion by 2027. Money talks and unfortunately diet culture produces a large revenue for our economy, which is why the work of dietitians like Lauren is so important. Lauren stated, "Most RDN’s are there to debunk any myths of diet culture with proven scientific facts about your body and how it works works, which I love to do. I also personally advocate for being happy in your skin! Recently, I have been really diving into research regarding body positivity and mindful eating to help clients understand that health is more about loving your body then putting it through harsh restrictions that are only going to make it harder and take you longer to reach your goals.

Like Lauren, many other health and wellness practitioners are trying to highlight the dangers of diet culture's messages in hopes to spread body positive messages and promote evidence-based health practices. If you are interested in learning more about reality of diet culture, you can check out Lauren's blog post called “ Food is NOT the enemy; Diet Culture Is”.

Debunking Diet Culture

Our conversation with Lauren ended with some of her top recommendations of how to reject the ideals of diet culture in your own life:

1. Unfollow accounts that promote diet culture and instead follow accounts with diverse body types.

2. Do not edit photos. Embrace your natural self! - "A while back a friend took a photo of me shoving a chicken finger in my mouth at a Buffalo Bills game and I posted it! I post about all of the desserts, restaurant adventures and drinks I have and enjoy! Just because I am a dietitian doesn’t mean I am “perfect” and only eat “healthy” foods. A healthy lifestyle includes all foods."

3. Recognize that thinness does not equal health.

4. There is no good or bad food- "Health, happiness, and wellbeing are always above thinness, appearance and body shape. It is about loving yourself first and making the healthy, sustainable steps in reaching any health/nutrition goal you may have!

EATS Nutrition

Lauren recognizes that in today's society it can be hard to have a positive body image and feel good about your weight with so many influencers promoting their “What I

Eat In A Day," showing off their bodies and promoting ads and diet supplements. This is

where she wants to help! She wants to have an honest conversation with those of you are struggling- because she was there once too. She explained, "I was in the same place so many people are and still find myself struggling every once in a while -but that it is normal! I would love to share with you how I get through those times of struggle and the steps I take to truly “detox” from my unhealthy thoughts and get on the right track!" Having a support system and being able to share journeys makes all the difference. Lauren's ultimate goal is to help you understand how to appreciate and love the body you have and help you make small, easy changes at your own pace to meet your health and wellness goals.

EATS Nutrition's signature philosophy is all about being in control of your food choices; knowing that all foods can be a part of a healthy lifestyle. Lauren explained, "I am here to help people create a healthier relationship with food and learn to take care of their body, rather than punish it! Helping those realize that food contributes to your quality of life by fueling your body to live a life that brings you joy and memories!"

Interested in learning more from Lauren and EATS Nutrition? You can contact Lauren via her website EATSNutrition.com , follow her on Instagram @Eats_Nutrition_ , or email her at eats.nutrition@gmail.com.